In Reply to: Re: County Cinema Sunday Matinee posted by Pit stop on August 15, 2008 at 21:37:46:

the pit was where the action was and botha ....willie ....marshalled it well.....goldens was certainly a mandatory stop.....they gave you the greatest ice cream between two wafers and often had many flavours...banana was my favourite....mary ruane was the greatest....she worked in goldens.....they were also very liberal with sweets servings particularly clarnico-murray ice carmels but those treats came when ww2 ended...there was a penny toffee with a nut flavour...also french nougat...about this time of year we road boys would be gearing up for the the horse show and gymkanna in the lawn......we'd arrive at Luddens gate and put our names down to sell programmes....we'd try to sell them all and make a few coppers also at the end of the show there would be some free b's from some of the exhibitors......i still see young pat o'malley and paddy merrick clearing the jumps....also we'd be revved up because tofts were setting up for their two week carnival in the military barracks.....the road from rock square to the barracks gate was illumined in festive light and usually the first person you'd meet at the gate was eddy lynn.....myself and mick gavin were there every night.....i remember in one of the buildings they showed a sports reel of the fight between billy conn and the famed brown bomber joe louis...the fight went 15 rounds but joe prevailed...the downer of this mid august for us then was our swims in saleen were coming to a close for another year and we would soon be back to school ....bro.abban and brother nicholas....and plenty of the cane....a classmate of mine discussed this with me when i visited some years ago and his summary was it was barbaric...i echo that sentiment....the kids today no nothing of those experiences{thank goodness}....i often wonder if the "marble" holes are still in the yard in old st. pats....last winter here we had so much snow and i thought back on the blizzard of 1947 in castlebar when we were snowed in for a week.....do you remember toboganing on the hill in maryland....and on barretts hill ....that was all once upon a good time....tog go bog e....agus slan